


No Lion's Den

by aibari



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, Girl Saves Boy, Queer Themes, fairy tale, girls having adventures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-08
Updated: 2013-06-08
Packaged: 2017-12-14 09:13:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/835208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aibari/pseuds/aibari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Her armour is too heavy, and she isn’t ready for this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Lion's Den

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Princess_Aleera](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Princess_Aleera/gifts).



> Happy slightly belated birthday, Princess_Aleera!

 

1.  
The light comes in.  
It falls across the dining hall floor in great swaths, sparking off the whites and blues of the tiles. Marietta stands as straight as she can and lets it hit her. Today, she wears gilded armour and a golden crown; the breastplate has a red lion on it, the crown shaped like a circle of flowers.  
She isn’t ready for this, and her fingers twitch and skitter like spiders even as she tries to keep them still. Her armour is too heavy, and she isn’t ready for this.  
Her mother hands her a sword.  
“My dear,” she says, and smiles.  
Marietta takes it. She does not flinch. She gives thanks, quietly and with a dry mouth, and her mother is still smiling like she cannot hear the waver of her voice.  
“It is time,” her mother says, and her words are heavy with the ritual behind it. “You must find your damsel. You must earn your name.”  
Marietta nods. It hurts to swallow.  
Her mother asks: “Are you ready?”  
There is nothing she can say but yes.

 

2.

The city is crowded and large, and the masses of people part for her like an angry sea as she rides through the streets. The air is heavy with the summer heat. Marietta has changed her crown for a helmet. The crown lies at the bottom of her pack, wrapped in cloth and kept secret. She has to stop herself from adjusting the helmet.  
She needs a guide.

 

3.

A woman in green is selling maps on a street corner. Her face is as square as her eyebrows, and her hands move through the air like birds.  
There is something about her.  
Marietta dismounts. She slides her visor up.  
“I am looking for a boy in a tower,” she says.  
“Any one in particular?” the map seller asks. The smile stretches out across her face like an old flag. It doesn't suit her.  
“It doesn't matter,” Marietta says.  
“I have a particularly good one for you, if you like,” says the map seller. She rifles through the bag at her feet. It is big and made from deep purple hide. Dragon is expensive. Marietta wonders where she got it, if she stole it. The map seller fishes out a map, slightly stained and heavily creased at the edges of every fold.  
“I just got this,” the map seller says. “Yours for only ten gold.”  
Marietta stares at her. The silence seeps out between them and into the passing crowd. There are people watching them, and Marietta can feel their eyes like tiny, probing fingers even through her armour. She leans in close. The map seller smells of leather and dust and something strange and flowery.  
“If you come with me,” Marietta murmurs, and her voice rasps out over her teeth, “I will give you forty.”  
“It's at least three weeks from here,” the map seller says. Her voice is teasing, and rough at the edges. “Make it fifty and we have a deal.”

 

4.

The map seller is terrible at hunting, but decent at making fire, and she never seems to run out of stories. Her name is Kee, and when she laughs, the corners of her eyes crinkle up into thin lines and dry rivers.  
Marietta tries not to watch the way the fire paints shadows over her face, the way her fingers move when she talks, the way she worries at her bottom lip with her teeth when she gets distracted.  
Only two more weeks.

 

5.

Dawn spills across the valley like a slow flood. They watch it from the top of the hill, sitting shoulder to shoulder and almost close enough.  
“Mar,” Kee says. Her voice is quieter than usual, deeper. Marietta shivers. The sunlight hasn’t reached them yet; it’s cold.  
“Yes?” Marietta squints toward the sun. She doesn’t know where else to look. The grass under her palms is wet with dew.  
“If you had the choice,” Kee says, “where would you be, right now?”  
Marietta looks at her. The sun has made an imprint on her vision, and it gives Kee a strange halo.  
“I – ” Marietta says. Her voice feels strange in her throat. “This is fine.”  
“Fine.” Kee drags out the sound like she is trying to find the taste of it. She smiles, and it sends sparks through Marietta’s chest. “I can think of some other things that are fine.”  
“I might like a place with a proper bed,” Marietta amends. Kee smiles wider. Her eyes shine.  
“A bed, hm?” she says, light and teasing. Marietta stares at her. Her face burns.  
“I – I mean,” she says, but the words trip into each other and fall over before she can get them out.  
“It’s okay,” Kee says. “It’s fine.”  
Marietta glares at her. Her face is still hot. “You don’t have to tease.”  
“I am utterly sincere,” Kee says. She puts a hand on Marietta’s hand. Her skin is lighter than Marietta’s, but not by much. Her palm is cold and slightly damp from the dewy grass, and Marietta curses herself for hoping that she won’t let go.  
“Kee,” Marietta says. It comes out as a whisper. “I want – ”  
She cannot find the words.  
“You only have to ask,” Kee murmurs. Her breath ghosts across Marietta’s cheek.  
“If you had the choice,” Marietta whispers, “where would you be, right now?”  
“This is fine,” Kee says. Her smile is strange and bright and beautiful.

Marietta leans in and kisses her.

  
6\. 

The tower looms in the distance like a bad omen.

 

7\. 

Marietta slays the dragon.  
They leave the corpse of it at the bottom of the tower and begin their ascent.

  
8.

They find the boy in the topmost room.  
He lies stretched out on a stone slab. Light shines in through the grime of the windows, and it carves out the hollows of his face.  
He looks ancient.  
He looks too young.  
Marietta leans down to kiss him. She has never wanted anything less, and she can feel Kee tense up behind her.  
His lips are cold and unmoving under hers. She could be kissing a statue. She could be kissing a corpse. It drives a shiver through her, and she steps back as quickly as she can.  
For a moment, nothing happens. Marietta is relieved. Kee puts a hand on her shoulder and smiles.  
The boy on the slab bursts to life. He squints through the dim light.  
“Are you the one?” he asks.  
Marietta swallows. The weight of Kee's hand is warm and steady.  
“No,” Marietta says, and smiles. “But we'll get you out of here anyway."

  
9.

They put the boy in the care of one of Kee's contacts in the city. It’s a temporary arrangement, but it’s better than being comatose in a tower.

 

10\. 

Afterwards, Marietta takes Kee's hands, making quiet braids of their fingers. Kee kisses her face.  
“You said I only had to ask,” Marietta says. “So I’m asking you.”  
“Go ahead,” Kee says. She stands close enough for their noses to touch.  
“If you say yes, we will probably be causing a political scandal,” Marietta says. “But I would be - honoured if you would consider it.”  
She breathes in deep.  
“Kee,” she says. “Will you be my queen?”  
Kee beams. It spreads across her face like a sunrise. “For you, Mar, I’ll be anything.”


End file.
